A federal judge has ordered the FDA to make the "morning-after" emergency contraception pill available to women of all ages without a prescription within the next thirty days. The lawsuit, originally filed in 2005, uncovered evidence that the Bush Administration pressured the FDA to enact an age limit on the pill for political reasons, and in 2009 the court ruled that the FDA “acted in bad faith and in response to political pressure." In 2011, the FDA finally decided to lift the age restriction on Plan B, but in another instance of extraordinary political pandering, President Obama's Health and Human Services overruled the FDA.
Today's ruling blasted the Obama administration for "unjustified departures" from established policy to "deprive the overwhelming majority of women of their right to obtain contraceptives without unjustified and burdensome restrictions." Referring to "political interference" from the White House, the judge stated "the motivation for [Secretary Kathleen Sebelius'] action was obviously political. ... [I]t was an election year decision that many public health experts saw as a politically motivated effort to avoid riling religious groups and others opposed to making birth control available to girls."
When HHS Secretary Sebelius overruled the FDA in 2011, Obama explained, "The reason Kathleen made this decision is that she could not be confident that a 10-year-old or an 11-year-old going to a drugstore should be able — alongside bubble gum or batteries — be able to buy a medication that potentially, if not used properly, could have an adverse effect."
Judge Edward R. Korman also ruled that "[t]hese emergency contraceptives would be among the safest drugs sold over-the-counter." In response to today's decision, which you can read in full below, National Women’s Liberation-New York Chapter organizer Erin Mahoney said, “The Morning-After Pill was already available without a prescription in at least 63 other countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Denmark and Ghana. We are glad the U.S. has finally caught up to women around the world, but it shouldn’t have taken over a decade of pressure from feminists, our allies and a lawsuit.”
